The video game market (or at least the journalists who cover the video game market) has seen a line be drawn firmly between the “casual” gamer and the “hardcore” gamer for years now. The question is always the same, should a video game cater to one or the other? Nintendo, whose Wii is constantly called into question as the centerpiece of the debate, might have a solution.{ad}

A patent was filed by Nintendo Creative Director Shigeru Miyamoto on June 30, 2008 that gives their customers the best of both worlds. The patent describes what Nintendo is referring to as the “Kind Code.” Think of it as a new generation of those $15 video game guides that you can pick up in the check-out line at Best Buy.

The new system would allow stuck gamers to either see a hint that might help them, or watch a video of a game’s developer getting through that particular part of the game. The video or hints aren’t mandatory, though, and when they are turned on, you can’t save your game.

The question now is how this will be used by gamers. Will previously “hardcore” gamers take to watching hints all the time? Will casual gamers watch the entire game before playing through it, just so they know exactly where all the hidden gems are? At this point it’s anybody’s guess and who knows when we’ll actually see the “Kind Code” implemented. It could change game development quite a bit, though. Could you imagine playing through an entire Final Fantasy game without ever having to actually press a button? Unreal!